Archive by category | Hurricanes

Forecasting the future of hurricanes

The world’s most advanced simulation of extreme weather on a warming Earth completed its first run last Friday – though the data won’t be fully digested into human-readable format until spring. Yesterday I talked to meteorologist Greg Holland, co-leader of the study, at the Willis insurance company’s London office – whose cycle racks, I can report, are tucked away discreetly across the street from its intimidatingly curved and purple-lit lobby.  Read more

Hurricanes and sea surface temperature: all relative?

Hurricanes and sea surface temperature: all relative?

With a month to go until its official finish, the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season has seen more damage, as measured in dollars, than any other year except the monster 2005 season. Scientists have yet to agree whether human-induced climate change has caused spiking Atlantic hurricane activity since the early 1990s – and while the season has raged on, researchers have continued to go back and forth on whether worse is in store as the ocean keeps warming. Science this week has the latest salvo in the longtime debate: a Perspective (subscription) by Gabriel Vecchi of NOAA, Kyle Swanson of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Brian Soden of the University of Miami.  Read more

Cyclones’ carbon capturing

Cyclones’ carbon capturing

Cross-posted from Daniel Cressey on The Great Beyond Cyclones appear to be responsible for a large amount of organic carbon tied up in ocean sediments. In a paper published in Nature Geoscience, Robert Hilton and colleagues report on the impact of cyclone-induced floods on carbon in the LiWu River in Taiwan. They found that between 77 and 92% of non-fossil carbon eroded from the LiWu catchment area was moved during floods linked to cyclones. As increased sea surface temperatures from global warming could increase the intensity of cyclones, this could create negative feedback, with bigger cyclones locking up more organic  … Read more

Hurricane season 2007: The opening act

Posted by Olive Heffernan on behalf of Alex Witze June 1 is almost here, and for residents of the eastern US, Caribbean and Central America that means just one thing: stock up on the plywood and batten down the hatches, for the Atlantic hurricane season is upon us. This week’s Nature features a minor rush of hurricane-related items. First off, in a technical manuscript, Ryan Sriver and Matthew Huber of Purdue University spell out how tropical cyclones could play a significant role in mixing the ocean’s topmost layers. They find that about 15 percent of the peak ocean heat transport  … Read more